DiSEqC options with Dish Pro 500 and 2 other dishes.

[Katrinasucks]

(Before I knew they were mostly worthless...) I scrounged 2 Dish 500 dishes that say "DP PRO" on the LNB cover. I've also manged to dig a 90cm dish and a 76cm dish out the post Katrina rubble.

I'm counting the hours until installation and here is what I'd like to do. I'd like to put the 90 fixed on G10R, the 76 on a motor and the DP dish fixed for music.

Obviously, I'm not going to do it all at the same time. But I'd like a road map in my head.

(Thanks to this forum...) I'm pretty sure I understand everything except that DP Pro dish. Does it have a switch installed like my Phase III dish or are those just 2 LNBFs side by side? AND if they are separate, can I use a standard 4 port DiSEqC or do I need a fancy Dish Network switch?

Thanks

Oh- And to confirm... I'd put the switch between the motor and the LNBs and just tell the receiver which LNBs use the motor and which don't?

 

[Mr Tony]

(Thanks to this forum...) I'm pretty sure I understand everything except that DP Pro dish. Does it have a switch installed like my Phase III dish or are those just 2 LNBFs side by side? AND if they are separate, can I use a standard 4 port DiSEqC or do I need a fancy Dish Network switch?

the switch is built in. I think (and I havent confirmed this) but hook both lines from the dishpro to the Diseqc switch. 110 would be port 1 and 119 would be port 2 (as an example). Only issue is the DishPro frequencies (the horizontal..evens) are stacked so the frequency is goofy. I don't have handy the changeover. If you can find some old legacy singles (or DirecTV LNB's) they work MUCh easier

Oh- And to confirm... I'd put the switch between the motor and the LNBs and just tell the receiver which LNBs use the motor and which don't?

correct. Leave motor on disable for the fixed dishes.

 

[Katrinasucks]

If I find the "legacy" Dish stuff it is just regualr cir LNBs? I'm sure I can find that with 1 ride thru the city.

It's like ebay but free.

 

[Mr Tony]

Legacy is the original name of the LNB’s…they don’t have a big “DP” on them for DishPro

DirecTv LNB’s (the ones with one “eye”) are Legacy as are Dish Networko ones. I’d stay away from the Legacy Twin (the one that looks like what you have except it doesn’t have the DP on it. They have issues too.

 

[Tron]

As Iceberg noted, stay away from the one-piece LNBF assembly with two "eyes" in it. The one-piece DP's with two "eyes" will work, but the frequency conversion is a pain in the nether-regions. The 2-eye DP's use a DiSEqC switch inside the assembly, but "stack" the frequencies so everything is on one polarity. It's best to use an OLD Dish 500 that had two separate LNBFs on a Y yoke. The Y yoke is still there on the one-piece LNBF dishes, but the single piece LNBF fits onto both sides of the Y yoke. What you want is a dish that has a separate LNBF on each side of the yoke.

Alternatively, IF you can find a DirecTV Phase II (the older multi-LNBF DTV dish with two standard DTV LNBFs mounted in a yoke), that would work as well. You would simply open the yoke of the Phase II and take out the built-in switch.

 

[Katrinasucks]

It's best to use an OLD Dish 500 that had two separate LNBFs on a Y yoke.

Cool! Got one of those from that smashed apartment complex on Ridgelake. ;-) It got a little smashed too but it is probably fine.

Alternatively, IF you can find a DirecTV Phase II (the older multi-LNBF DTV dish with two standard DTV LNBFs mounted in a yoke), that would work as well. You would simply open the yoke of the Phase II and take out the built-in switch.

That's good to know. Haven't seen one yet. Is the switch usable or pitch it?

 

[Tron]

The switch in the Phase II won't work, just take it out and use the outputs from the LNBFs directly.

 

[Digital Rain]

My ? is - can I put 2 single LNB's on a 22khz switch and then add a 3rd LNB with a DiSEqC switch? or will that confuse the recvr?

 

[TreDEE]

My ? is - can I put 2 single LNB's on a 22khz switch and then add a 3rd LNB with a DiSEqC switch? or will that confuse the recvr?

Why not just use a Diseqc switch? Pick up a 4x1 switch for a few bucks and just assign the ports in your box. No need for that 22khz switch.

 

[Mr Tony]

but to answer the question, yes you can. Thats what I do

I have 2 dishes on my roof and 2 on the deck railing. The 2 from the roof are connected with a 22k switch and the cable is run to a 4x1 switch

port 1 is fixed dish on deck
port 2 is 2nd fixed dish on deck
port 3 22k off is dish 1 on roof
port 3 22k on is dish 2 on roof.

Reason I did this was to only need one cable off the roof

 

[Digital Rain]

i've got 2 lnbs hooked up - port 1 - dish 1 - port 2 -dish 2. So do i take port 2 and hook it to the DiSEqC switchs port 1 and then run dish 3 to another open port? then what do I set the recvr to?